Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (rewrite)
by Mithihotep the Indomitable
Summary: What if the Rogue One team had survived the Battle of Scarif and went on to become the protagonists of the OT, with Luke and Leia as minor characters? This is the first of a rewritten Original Trilogy and possibly Sequel Trilogy too. Rated T because it is quite a gritty version. I own none of the characters or locations included in the story - they are the property of Disney.
1. Chapter 1 - A New Hope

Here it is, the first chapter of my rewrite of Star Wars Episode IV - starring the Rogue One team! Luke, Leia and Han will still be in it but only as minor characters. Obi-Wan will play a major part in the entire trilogy.

The first chapter is basically the opening scene of the original a New Hope but the rest of it will be different - promise.

Crawl:

It is a period of civil war. After the Battle of Scarif, the infamous Rogue One team return to Base One, triumphant in the Rebels' first victory against the evil Galactic Empire.

During the battle, the spies managed to steal secret plans for the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armoured space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet, but had to leave them in the protection of Princess Leia Organa.

Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, the senator races home aboard her starship, custodian of the plans that will save the Rebels and bring freedom to the Galaxy...

Chapter 1

Aboard the Tantive IV, the battle was not looking good.

The Rebel blockade runner had been pursued by the Imperial Star Destroyer Devastator through hyperspace for many leagues, and now she had been cornered above the desert planet of Tatooine. Although the Rebel cruiser fought desperately with her turbo laser batteries, the Imperial vessel's superior weaponry began to take its toll.

Soon, an accurate shot penetrated the Tantive IV's engines, causing them to explode.

"Did you hear that?" C-3PO the tall golden Protocol Droid cried, "They've shut down the main reactors. We'll be destroyed for sure! This is madness!"

His companion R2-D2, the stout blue Astromech Droid, beeped impatiently, fed up of his best friend's panicking.

The Rebel vessel was indeed immobilised, and the Imperial one eagerly advanced towards its prey.

Inside the Rebel ship, morale was running low. Alarms sounded desperately within the corridors, and Rebel infantry mustered to defend their ship, but they knew their time was up. The Star Destroyer would doubtlessly be carrying a garrison ten times the size of the one in the Rebel cruiser.

"We're doomed!" C-3PO groaned to his friend. The Astromech beeped again, trying to reassure his companion.

"There will be no escape this time," the Droid replied in a pessimistic tone.

A dozen Rebels rallied at the ship's docking port as they heard clangs outside their ship.

"What's that?" Cried C-3PO.

The Star Destroyer was opening its hangar doors in its underside to trap the helpless cruiser, and the Tantive IV was soon swallowed up. As soon as it was captured, the Imperials attempted to force the docking port door open. It soon slid aside, the systems crackling as they were frazzled, and instantly a horde of Stormtroopers charged in to secure the breach.

The two Droids ducked into a side passage, while the battle raged in the main corridor. The Rebel soldiers fought hard, gunning down several Imperials, but most of them were soon overwhelmed and killed. The remnants routed, pursued by the Stormtroopers, who secured the ship and eliminated any more resistance. They knelt to check if any of their casualties were still alive, but there were none.

Behind the Imperial troops came their general, Darth Vader himself, as he strode onto the deck of the Rebel vessel, the sound of his hoarse breathing evident. He surveyed the casualties before marching on to secure the bridge, flanked by his Stormtrooper bodyguard.

In the side corridor, C-3PO was searching for R2-D2. He found him with the Princess, who had somehow hidden herself there also. She slipped a small data card, the one containing the stolen plans, into R2 and, looking around hastily, switched something off on him. She then hid herself behind some cargo and R2 rolled towards where C-3PO was. The sounds of battle were still going on, and some Rebels fled through the main corridor.

"At last! Where have you been? They're heading in this direction! What are we going to do? We'll be sent to the spice mines of Kessel or smashed into who-knows-what!" the Protocol Droid scolded, but R2 simply beeped at him and rolled away.

"Wait a minute, where are you going?" C-3PO inquired, following his friend.

The Astromech didn't stop until he reached an escape pod in a small atrium.

"Hey, you're not permitted in there, it's restricted!" his friend warned him, "You'll be deactivated for sure!"

R2 beeped back at him angrily.

"Don't you call me a mindless philosopher, you overweight glob of grease!" the Protocol Droid scolded, "now come out of there, before somebody sees you!"

R2 then told C-3PO what he had been tasked to do by the Princess.

"Secret mission? What plans? What are you talking about? I'm not going in there!" C-3PO bickered, but a blast from a Stormtrooper's blaster soon made him change his mind.

"I'm going to regret this," the Protocol Droid said to himself as he climbed into the pod after his friend, the door closing behind him.

Ignoring him and entering the main cabin, R2 immediately rolled over to the central computer and set escape coordinates to the desert planet below the ship. The pod broke away from its docking clamps and zoomed out of the underside of the Tantive IV. Luckily the doors of the Devastator were open, so the pod was able to escape.

"That's funny, the damage doesn't look too bad from out here," the Protocol Droid commented as his Astromech Companion beeped in agreement, "Are you sure this thing is safe?"

Meanwhile, back in the cargo hold, Princess Leia could hear Darth Vader outside, along with a strangled gasp. The Sith Lord was interrogating Captain Antilles in the main corridor and the remaining Rebel crew were being led away as prisoners, alongside the ship's other Astromechs.

"The plans are not in the ship's main computer," a Stormtrooper confirmed to Vader when he and the rest of his squad returned from searching the ship for the Death Star plans.

"Where are those transmissions you intercepted? What have you done with those plans?" the cyborg growled, throttling the captain with one hand and lifting him from the ground.

"We never received any transmissions!" Antilles groaned, "This is a consular ship! We're on a diplomatic mission!"

"If this is a consular ship, where is the ambassador?" Vader retorted, tightening his grip on the captain's neck. Almost immediately there was a snapping of neck bones as Antilles was strangled to death, and Vader cast the Rebel's corpse to the ground angrily.

"Commander! Tear the ship apart until you have found those plans and brought me the passengers! I want them alive!" He roared to the Stormtrooper commander in charge, who immediately set his underlings to work searching the contents of the Tantive IV. Three immediately began to investigate the side passage, and Leia ducked back behind a shelf, drawing her blaster.

One of the Stormtroopers saw her, and said, "There's one, set for stun!"

Leia immediately fired her pistol, felling one of the Imperials, but as she turned to run another fired a stun shot from his blaster. Immediately the Princess felt her muscles go limp, as if they had turned to jelly, and she fell to the ground.

"She'll be all right," the Stormtrooper confirmed to his comrades as they moved to capture her, "Inform Lord Vader we have a prisoner!"


	2. Chapter 2 - The Mission Begins

At Base One on Yavin IV, there had been a multitude of transmissions from various planets. A week ago a Rebel ambassador had noted the Rebel Council of an uprising being planned on Kashyyyk, as the Wookiees were furious at the betrayal of the Empire, and that how as soon as they had helped the Wookiees to defeat the Separatist Droid army, they had now turned on the planet's natives themselves. Then yesterday another message came from a spy on Naboo who had found out that the Gungans were also considering a revolt, for the Empire had been cruel to them too. The Council were currently debating their course of action on these events.

"I say it is too dangerous to help either the Wookiees or the Gungans," Senator Jebel of Uyter piped up, "After the Battle of Scarif we lost many ships, troops and pilots! And Admiral Raddus was captured - the Empire will probably torture and kill him. We can't afford another battle of that magnitude. The Empire is just too strong."

"Senator Jebel is right," Senator Pamlo agreed, "While the plight of the Wookiees and Gungans is awful to hear about, we can't risk any more brave souls. Even if we do win a battle on Kashyyyk or Naboo, how will the Empire react? Will they just withdraw their forces and plan their next move against us? I don't think so. They'll enact their revenge on the ordinary people of those planets, Wookiee, human and Gungan alike, and the populations of other planets will hear that we caused these atrocities to happen. Support for our movement will dwindle because of it!"

Then Bail Organa of Alderaan replied, "But we cannot do nothing. The Gungans as a people are proud of their warrior culture and will not shy away from a fight against a foe that has brought them misery. We know that from their actions against the Separatists. The Wookiees also have real cause to hate the Empire - they have been enslaved to construct the Death Star and their villages have been razed to the ground, their sacred Wroshyr trees felled. We stand for the rights of all the citizens of the Galaxy. If people hear how we do nothing to help those in trouble, support for the Alliance will fall anyway. Whereas, if we go to help these people in need, the citizens of the Galaxy will know that we care for their safety and security, and support will rise. I believe we should take action! The Empire's forces will be split between two battlegrounds this time, and will not be able to bring the full concentration of their armies to bear."

Just as the vote was to be called on what was to be done, a Rebel communications officer interrupted the meeting.

"Senators! I have received an urgent transmission from the Tantive IV, Princess Leia's starship. It has been attacked by the Empire."

"That's the ship that was trying to bring the Death Star plans here! If the Empire gets those plans back, we are doomed for sure!" Senator Pamlo fretted.

Mon Mothma, who had been quietly watching the other Senators discuss the uprisings on Naboo and Kashyyyk, arose from her seat and spoke up.

"Show us this transmission," she ordered the officer.

The officer slotted the datacard containing the transmission into a card port and a holographic image of Captain Antilles of the Tantive IV appeared before the councillors.

"This is the Captain of the Tantive IV! The Empire has cornered us near the desert planet Tatooine!" the image shouted into the comms terminal.

A sudden clanging made the hologram turn around as the image flickered and went out of focus for a spell. Soon Captain Antilles had turned around again.

"The Imperials have just neutralised our engines, and will be moving to capture us," he continued, "so I have little time left to explain what has happened to the Death Star plans! We know the Empire will search our ship, so Princess Leia Organa is going to hide the plans inside a droid, and send it down to the planet's surface while the Empire is occupied in interrogating us. I don't know if the plan will have succeeded by the time you will see this, but we will do our utmost to ensure that droid gets down to the planet below us. I don't know which of our droids will be chosen to hide the plans, so I can't tell you what it looks like, but I am almost certain the Droid will be down on the planet by this time, waiting for you to collect it."

Another clanging sound occurred in the transmission, and Captain Antilles turned round again, evidently listening to another crew member. He returned to the transmission.

"The Imperial ship has just secured our ship within its hangar, and a boarding party will soon be here. I will have to leave now, and leave the rest of the operation for you to carry out, for if the Empire gets those plans back, we are surely doomed."

The figure then turned a knob at the control panel he was leaning at, and he disappeared as the holotransmission ended.

"This changes things," commented Senator Jebel, "We now have a new priority."

"Who do you suppose we should send to find this Droid?" Mon Mothma asked the Council.

"I vote we send Captain Andor and his team," General Draven replied.

"But remember that he and his team have only just arrived back at Base One after their operation on Scarif," Bail Organa objected.

"Ah, but he will not mind when he realises the alternative," Draven retorted, "After all, he and his team disobeyed our strict orders to stay here. Others followed, but his group were the first to ignore our verdict, and he is officially recognised as the commanding officer of the team. As such, surely he would face a Court Martial for his disobedience?"

"But his team were able to steal the plans to the one thing that would annihilate us!" Bail replied, "That is reason enough to spare him his punishment!"

"We cannot make exceptions, Senator Organa," Draven reminded the Senator, "We need to show that our forces are as disciplined and reliable as those of the Empire, or else our troops will get away with extortionate offences and our movement will lose support in the eyes of the people."

"Who here agrees with General Draven?" Mon Mothma spoke to the Council. A dozen senators rose their hands.

"And who agrees with Senator Organa?"

Only eight individuals raised their hands.

"It is agreed then," Mon Mothma confirmed, "Captain Andor and the Rogue One team will undertake the mission!"

A while later, Captain Cassian Andor and his team, who were out in the courtyard of the Yavin temple complex unpacking the gear they had taken with them to Scarif, were approached by a Rebel junior officer.

"Captain Andor?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"General Draven wishes to see you and Sergeant Erso in the Council chambers by 0500 hours."

"Tell him we will be there," Cassian replied in an exasperated tone, and the junior officer scampered away back to the main temple building.

"What's all this about, I wonder?" Jyn Erso asked Cassian as she dragged out a large medpack from the hold of Bistan's U-Wing, which had picked them up once they had sent the transmission of the plans up to the Profundity.

"I don't know, but we'd better see what General Draven wants. He's always got something for me to do," Cassian said, "We've got half an hour to get all this stuff back to the Quartermaster before we need to see him."

After they had returned the equipment, Cassian and Jyn reported to the Council Chambers five minutes early. General Draven was already present, but there was nobody else around.

"Ah, Captain Andor and Sergeant Erso, I was wondering when you'd turn up," Draven commented briskly, "There is business that we must attend to."

"What's going on?" Cassian asked. He was always suspicious of what Draven was proposing. Would it be another assassination he would have to carry out? Or perhaps a sabotage mission? All that he knew was that surely, surely, not even General Draven would send him back out on a mission just as they had got back from another?

"It seems that those plans you sent to the Profundity during the Battle of Scarif have got as far as Tatooine," Draven replied, and he told Cassian and Jyn about the Tantive IV escaping with the plans after the Profundity had been captured. He showed them the transmission recorded by Captain Antilles as well.

"Your team, Andor, is the finest group of spies we have ever had, and as such I am entrusting you to collect this droid. The Empire has already set up a presence upon this planet, and as such you may well have to infiltrate Imperial facilities and dodge patrols in order to recover the droid and the plans stored within it. You must be on and off the planet like shadows, for if the Empire discover you, and especially if they spot the droid, they will pursue, and will leave no survivors. Do you accept this mission?"

Cassian replied, "We do. We will go to Tatooine and find this droid."

"Excellent," replied Draven, "That makes things so much easier for us all."

"How so?" asked Jyn defiantly, "We have only just got back from an operation that almost killed us, and we don't want to be put back on another so soon. What is the alternative?"

Cassian turned and signalled Jyn to be quiet.

"The alternative, Miss Erso, is that all of you will face a Court Martial for disobeying a direct order, the Empire will find that droid, and we will all be doomed," Draven snapped back impatiently, "That operation, as you called it, was almost a complete disaster that still cost us hundreds of men dead and one of our finest admirals captured. You deliberately disobeyed an order to stay here, and as such you must pay by either facing a Court Martial or undertaking this vital mission."

"Jyn, we worked so hard to get those plans from Scarif. We cannot just leave them to the Empire now," Cassian said to her.

"All right, all right. We will go to Tatooine," Jyn relented.

"Right," said Draven, "Now Captain, you cannot travel there in a U-Wing. Any Imperial patrols would identify you as Rebels in an instant. We have found and retrofitted an old freighter that was going to be sold as scrap for you to use. Any Imperials who see that old thing will think you're harmless traders and ignore you. It is docked in Hangar B, and has been filled with all the provisions and equipment you will need. Good luck Captain Andor, and to you, Sergeant Erso."

And with that, General Draven called the briefing adjourned.

Cassian and Jyn left the chambers and headed back to the U-Wing where Baze Malbus, Chirrut Imwe, Bodhi Rook and K-2SO were waiting.

"What is going on?" K-2SO asked his master.

"We've got another mission," Cassian replied, "To Tatooine this time. There is a Droid we need to find with the Death Star plans hidden within it. There is an old freighter in Hangar B we will be using."

They all headed to Hangar B where a brown HWK-290 with red stripes upon its underside was stationed. It looked like a typical civilian transport - a perfect disguise. They embarked, with Cassian and K-2SO manning the flight controls and the others sitting back in the hold. They were approved for take off, and the freighter was moved out into the courtyard, where it started its engines and took off, hovering into the air and then blasting away from the planet's surface. When it left Yavin IV's atmosphere, Cassian prepared to initiate the jump into Hyperspace.

"The controls for this craft are dreadful," K-2SO commented just as the craft went into Hyperspace.


	3. Chapter 3 - Lost in the Desert

Meanwhile, C-3PO and R2-D2's escape pod had landed upon the desert of Tatooine in the dip of a sand dune, and the two friends had disembarked. They began to make their way across the desert.

"How did we get into this mess?" C-3PO asked his friend. R2-D2 beeped in response.

"I agree," replied his friend, "It seems we are made to suffer - it's our only lot in life." R2 whistled in agreement.

"I've got to rest before I fall apart - my joints are almost frozen!" The protocol droid complained as they reached the top of one of the dunes. His friend concurred in his Astromech fashion. The golden droid looked around as the miles of endless desert stretched out before them.

"What a desolate place this is," he sighed morosely.

His friend whistled again and began to turn around to the right.

"Where do you think you're going?" C-3PO asked R2, "Well, I'm not going that way, it looks far too rocky."

"This way is much easier", he advised, indicating to a gentle slope to the left with his hand.

The Astromech beeped to him stubbornly.

"What makes you think there are settlements over there?" The protocol droid inquired, approaching the Astromech. R2 turned his head around and beeped again.

"Don't take that tone with me!" C-3PO scolded. R2, obviously ignorant of his friend, beeped again and began to move off.

"What mission? What are you talking about?" C-3PO asked him. R2 replied in a way that seemed to irritate the protocol droid.

"I've just about had enough of you!" C-3PO grumbled to R2, losing his temper for a moment.

"Go that way! You'll be malfunctioning within a day, you near-sighted scrap pile!" the Protocol Droid shouted, kicking one of the Astromech's legs angrily. He turned away and began to walk off in the other direction. "And don't let me catch you following me, begging for help, because you won't get it!"

R2 hummed and whistled to himself for a moment, before turning his head around again and whistling loudly to C-3PO.

"No more adventures! I'm not going that way!" His friend retorted back, before continuing on the left path.

Seeing that he was now on his own, R2 continued down the path he had chosen.

By this time, the battered HWK-290, called 'The Mouldy Crow', had jumped out of Hyperspace and was heading down towards Tatooine.

"We're just passing through the planet's atmosphere," K-2SO informed his master sitting beside him in the cockpit.

"The Droid may be easily visible from the sky, and won't have gone far from where the escape pod landed," Cassian replied, "Let's see if we can spot him from the air before we consider landing anywhere."

The cargo vessel flew low down so that it was only about fifty feet from the planet's surface, to allow the team to try to spot any sign of the escape pod that detached from the Tantive IV, or any sign of a Droid wandering around alone. After about thirty minutes, Bodhi spotted a grey object lying in the dip of a sand dune out of a window.

"There, by that dune!" He called to Cassian and K-2SO, "That looks like an escape pod!"

Cassian and the reprogrammed Imperial Droid circled the Mouldy Crow around where the pod was half-buried by the sand and landed at the bottom of the dune close by. Opening a side-door, the team quickly secured the area and went to inspect the pod.

"It is a pod, but how do we know that it belongs to the Tantive IV?" Jyn ask

"Would this answer your question?" Baze replied. He kneeled down in the sand and indicated to two sets of tracks, one looking like it belonged to an unusual pair of boots, and the other resembling wheel tracks. The others all inspected the tracks, too, except for the blind Chirrut.

"Definitely Droid tracks," replied Cassian, "But I thought that there would be only one Droid?"

"Perhaps someone came down in the pod with it to accompany it, or perhaps there were two Droids so that one had the plans hidden inside it and the other didn't, to reduce the chances of the Empire discovering the Droid with the plans," Jyn suggested.

"Regardless of the situation the two individuals left the pod together," said Cassian, "If we hurry we can track them down easily enough. The only Droids who can run now that the Separatists have been defeated are the Imperial Enforcer Droids, and K-2SO here is the only one who has been successfully reprogrammed to serve the Alliance. Let's go!"

He lifted himself to his feet, followed by all the others, and immediately they went back to the HWK-290 to collect their supplies, for they would need a lot of water on their trek, and possibly some ammunition if they got into trouble.

"Someone will need to stay here with the ship, in case any Imperials appear. Although this planet is apparently controlled by gangsters, the Empire do have a presence here too," Cassian announced, "Does anyone volunteer to remain behind?"

"I'll stay here," Jyn said, getting up from where she was sitting in the doorway of the ship, "I'll be able to spot trouble from a good distance away with a pair of macrobinoculars so I can give myself enough time to disguise myself."

"Here, take my pair," Bodhi said to her, handing her his own macrobinoculars.

"Thanks," Jyn replied. Bodhi smiled nervously before turning away.

"Right, let's get going!" Cassian ordered his team, and while Jyn clambered back into the Mouldy Crow, the rest began to follow the trail.

"Most Droids move quite slowly, so we can catch them up if we waste no time," Cassian informed the others as they were walking.

"Except me," K-2SO interrupted.

"Yes, except for you," Cassian sighed, "Although you were specially built to be able to run as fast as a human can to chase troublemakers. The kind of Droids we should expect to be looking for are Protocol Droids, Embassy Droids or others along those lines."

They continued to walk quickly across the desert for about an hour, until they reached the top of a particular sand dune.

"I hate this desert. I'm not used to places like this," Baze said, more to himself than the others.

"But Jedha was just like this," Bodhi replied, "Miles of endless desert all around, and we both grew up there."

"But Jedha didn't have these unstable dunes," Baze replied, and as if to prove his point, the sand he was standing on slipped underneath him, causing him to roll down the steep dune slope to the bottom. The others all followed him down.

"Are you all right?" Cassian asked Baze, checking to make sure one of his top soldiers wasn't badly hurt. Baze looked like a beetle that had got stuck on its back with all his heavy weaponry strapped to him.

"Fine. Just covered in this sand," Baze grunted, spitting out some that had got in his mouth, rolling over on to his front, getting to his feet and dusting himself down.

"Hey, the trail's disappeared!" Bodhi piped up, "How will we find those Droids now?"

"Hold on," Cassian replied and made his way back up the dune slope.

"It's back up here," he called down, "The two Droids, or the one Droid and its companion, have split up."

"Which means we will have to do the same," Chirrut said suddenly. He had been so quiet before that everyone was surprised.

"Right. K2 and I will follow the trail to the left," Cassian declared.

"I will follow the one to the right," Chirrut replied.

"Which means I'm doing so too," Baze said to his Captain, "Someone has to make sure this fool goes the right way and doesn't blunder off a sand dune."

"Like you did," Chirrut retorted to his friend, chuckling.

"I'll go with you, Captain, sir," Bodhi decided.

"Fine. I'll let you know on the Comlink when I have found the individual we are looking for. You do the same when you find your quarry," Cassian ordered.

The two companies promptly parted ways and set off on their respective trails. Chirrut was able to follow his trail by feeling with his staff for indentations in the sand, and relying on his friend to stop him wandering astray. Bodhi and Cassian set off briskly to the right, with K-2SO trudging behind.

"Why don't I get a choice?" The reprogrammed Imperial Droid complained to his master.

"Be quiet, and keep up," Cassian replied.


	4. Chapter 4 - Raiders and Knights

Baze Malbus was fed up of Tatooine, and they had only been on the planet for a couple of hours. The sand got everywhere, the dunes were prone to falling apart beneath his feet and the heat...why, the heat was the thing he hated the most. At least on his beloved Jedha it was cool enough for you to move around, and no unstable sand dunes. The stifling heat had slowed him down considerably, and his collection of heavy weaponry, ammo cartridges and assorted Jedhan knick-knacks wasn't helping. In fact Chirrut was already a few steps ahead of him, and he was blind. Baze was mystified at how his best friend was able to follow the trail and not fall off the dunes, even without his help. The monk would skim his staff over the sand in front of him and somehow he could detect even the smallest depressions that would signify the presence of the trail.

"Can you slow down a little?" Baze puffed to his friend, "I can't stand this place!"

"All right, but we're getting close behind the Droid," Chirrut replied, kindly reducing his pace a little to allow his friend to catch up. Baze found a little burst of speed and jogged up to his blind companion.

"How do you know? You're blind!" He questioned him.

"You underestimate the power of the Force. It is strong here," was all that Chirrut said in return.

The pair continued to follow the trail for another twenty minutes or so, until the desert started to become rockier and more devoid of sand, and the entrance to a canyon appeared on the horizon.

"The trail leads into the canyon," Baze said at last, "We'd better go inside."

But as soon as they reached the entrance, Chirrut stopped. He stood stock still, and refused to enter, even though Baze encouraged him to follow.

"We shouldn't go in. Darkness resides in there," he said nervously, "We won't survive if we do."

"We must, old friend!" Baze pleaded, turning round, "We have to complete the mission or die trying, regardless of what you believe the Force says."

"I can sense the presence of savagery and brutality given form," Chirrut replied mystically, "There are monsters in there that would slay us without question if they could."

"Look, I can't do this on my own," Baze grumbled frustratedly, "If I left you here and something happened to you, I would never forgive myself!"

"All right, I'll come with you," Chirrut relented, "But don't blame me if anything happens to us."

Reluctantly, he sighed and followed his friend into the canyon, tapping his staff and following the trail of the Droid.

For a couple of miles they wandered through the rocky valley, this time Baze leading the way. He was mystified at what could make Chirrut so frightened - he hadn't been afraid of the Imperial patrols on Jedha, and nor had he shown fear against the garrison of the Scarif Citadel. He was Baze's best friend, yet there was evidently a lot that Baze had forgotten about him after he had left the Temple to be a hired gun.

Suddenly, a loud bang to their right startled Baze, and the whistling of a bullet past him startled him even more.

"Get down!" He yelled, dragging Chirrut behind a rocky crevice out of sight of the firer. As they ran, another couple of solid shots whizzed past them. Baze ducked behind the rock and shoved Chirrut around behind him to protect him. He powered up his customised blaster and fired a round at the cliff where the shots had come from. The rapid-fire blaster bolts flew up to the cliff surface, but hit nothing.

"What in Jedha's name was that?" He questioned Chirrut, as if he knew.

"They were the savages I sensed," the monk replied.

"Well, they'll not defeat us," Baze replied as he replaced the used cartridge in his blaster, "You just stay here - I'll handle this."

Just then, a creature clad all in brown rags and furs with material tightly worn around its head as a mask, braying profusely, leaped out in front of Baze and swung its metal club over its head at him. Baze raised his blaster horizontally to parry the blow, but the brute swung its weapon again laterally, dealing him a hefty blow. Baze's armour protected hi from the worst of the strike, but was winded all the same and fell to the ground. The creature raised its weapon above its head again in order to finish him with a blow to the head, but Chirrut leaped forward, slamming his staff into the side of the creature's own head, knocking it out cold. Two more leaped out from hiding places, one in front and the other behind, but Chirrut, unperturbed, swept his staff underneath the feet of the one in front to knock it over before preternaturally dodging the other's blow, jabbing it in the midriff and felling it with another sweep of his weapon. The first one got to its feet again, only to be riddled with blaster bolts at point-blank range by Baze, who had backed up against the cliff face. However, another loud bang sounded from somewhere and Chirrut fell backwards, badly wounded in the chest. He tried to get up, but couldn't.

"No!" Baze cried out, and seeing the creature that had shot his friend, prepared an explosive round and fired it with all the accuracy he could muster as the creature reloaded its slug rifle. The twin bolts spiralled around each other as they flew and hit the creature square in the chest despite the altitude it was stationed on and killed it instantly. Then Baze saw more and more of the savages appear all over the place as if they had materialised directly from the rocky walls of the canyon and advance towards him, their metal bludgeons ready. He got up and quickly fired a fusillade of shots at the creatures, slaughtering the front row, but more charged towards him, braying furious warcries, and Baze realised this was the end for them both. The beasts would murder him and then finish off Chirrut, who was in no state to fight them anymore.

However, just then, a wailing, ululating, roaring cry sounded somewhere off to the left of the canyon, echoing across the walls and amplifying itself tenfold. All the rag-draped creatures suddenly brayed in alarm and began to flee, melting into the different passages of the desert canyon and disappearing. Baze, realising that they would not be returning, ran to his fallen friend, kneeling beside him. Chirrut wasn't moving, but Baze checked his pulse - he was still alive.

"He'll be all right. His reflexes saved him mostly," said a calm voice.

Baze turned quickly to see someone in a long hooded brown cloak standing beside him and looking down at Chirrut. The individual had seemingly appeared out of nowhere like the creatures that had attacked them. He looked up at the individual. The figure didn't seem intimidating like the raggedy creatures, but more serene and peaceful, as if he had seen things like this go on all the time.

"Who are you? Can you help my friend?" Baze asked the character hurriedly.

The figure slowly pulled down his hood to reveal the kindly face of an old man, his pale skin weathered and tanned by the desert climate. Baze now saw he wore light brown robes wrapped around himself carefully, nothing like the tatty garments worn by the savage aliens.

"The wound the Sand People have given him is severe, but I think he'll pull through. He has an inner resilience that belies such a fragile man," the old man said quietly, "As for who I am, call me Old Ben. Everybody that lives around these wastes does. Come, I'll take you both to my home, and I can treat your friend's wound. I live just beyond this canyon in a small hut where the Tusken Raiders won't find us. They're easily startled, but they'll be back, and in greater numbers."

"But there is a reason we are here," Baze replied, "We're looking for a Droid, with wheels. Its trail continues through this canyon, and we've been following it."

"I think I know the one you mean, because I was approached by a Droid earlier today, a little Astromech with blue markings on him. He seemed to be looking for someone urgently. I didn't want him to risk being attacked by the Tusken Raiders, Jawas or worse, so I led him back to my hut and allowed him to stay with me until he found the individual he was looking for. I'll help you to carry your friend," Old Ben said.

"I've got him. I'll be fine," Baze said, hauling the prone Chirrut over his shoulder in a fireman's lift.

Old Ben then led Baze for around half a mile down one of the paths that split off from the main route through the canyon. After a while, they reached a small hovel at the bottom of a cliff face.

"This is it," the old man said to Baze, and led him inside.

The hut wasn't what Baze had expected. For one thing, it wasn't dark and gloomy as he had imagined it to be inside - the planet's suns shone through several small windows to render the inside visible. Furthermore, it was quite roomy inside, at least it was in the living room. Old Ben led Baze over to a seating area.

"Lay your friend down there," he ordered Baze, indicating to an alcove to the right, where some blankets were present to be a combination of a bed and a seating area, before bustling off to a smaller room.

"I have some bacta patches somewhere in here that I can use to cure his wound. Please sit down and make yourself at home while you're waiting."

Baze slumped down upon a chair by a small table near to where Chirrut lay.

"Have you always lived here?" He questioned the old man. There was no reply until Old Ben returned with a bacta patch and a small sharp instrument.

"I'll have to remove the bullet first, and then I can put the patch on to regenerate his skin to its original, healthy state," he said briskly, "Those Tuskens are a menace to all travellers on Tatooine. It wouldn't be so bad if they used blasters like everyone else, but they're too primitive to understand the technology. They are terrified of all machines, and rely on traditional weapons like solid-shot rifles, which can be much deadlier."

"Because you have to remove the bullet before using a regenerative substance like bacta," Baze finished, "I was attacked by a couple of traitor Bounty Hunters using slug throwers like that when working for the Republic for a stint on Malastare. One of my first missions, that was."

"You fought for the Republic?" the hermit replied as soon as he had extracted the bullet from Chirrut's wound.

"Only for a few months, before the Empire," Baze replied, saying the word 'Empire' as if it were the name of his worst enemy.

"I was originally a monk like him," he said, indicating to Chirrut, "But a war's no place for faith. I got nothing out of my beliefs, so I gave them up and became a hired gun, as I thought that would be a good life for me, wandering the Galaxy and earning a hoard of credits. It's certainly served me better than my time at the Temple. It was only by chance that I returned to Jedha and met Chirrut again while on a mission to disrupt the Imperial presence there. I've been looking out for him ever since."

"And what about this droid you seek? How does he come into it?" the old man inquired, placing the bacta patch on Chirrut's wound.

So Baze explained to Old Ben how valuable the Droid was to the Rebel Alliance. He believed the hermit could keep such a secret, as he wouldn't have saved them if he had ties with the Empire.

"I'll go and see if the droid I'm accommodating is the one you're after. He's hiding around here somewhere," the old man said afterwards. He began to poke around his little house, looking for the droid, until he found it hidden in the doorway.

"Ah, there you are," he said kindly, "I have some friends I'd like you to meet."

A blue and silver Astromech cautiously slipped through the doorway and over to where Baze was sitting, Old Ben following.

"He's got quite a spirit, this little Droid," he said as the Astromech, "he says his number is R2-D2, and that he has a top-secret message to deliver. Other than that I cannot figure out where he's come from."

"I'm not an expert, but I know a bit about Droids," Baze replied, getting up, "I'll see if I can find anything to do with this message."

"Let's see who you are, my little friend, and if you're the Rebel Droid we're after, "Baze said to R2-D2 and he patted the Droid on the head in a friendly manner.

The Droid beeped to himself, and as Baze went back to sit down, a blue hologram of a pretty woman in a long white dress suddenly shone out from the Astromech upon the table. She was leaning over the Droid, as if to keep herself hidden, and kept looking around warily.

"General Kenobi, years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars," the young lady said, "now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father's request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack, and I'm afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. I have placed information vital to the survival to the Rebellion into the memory systems of this R2 unit. My father will know how to retrieve it. You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope. "

"I think we've found our Droid," Baze then said, as soon as the hologram faded away.


End file.
